Monochrome

My Dad is doing a computer course, and it tells him that it's best to set your monitor to 2 colour to reduce eyestrain. I think thats a load of bull, but he wants to do it anyway. But I don't think you can in XP, I can only get 16 bit and 32 bit. Anyone know of anyway to get XP to display 2 colour? Please tell me I'm right abut this.

Originally posted by djwhite My Dad is doing a computer course, and it tells him that it's best to set your monitor to 2 colour to reduce eyestrain. I think thats a load of bull, but he wants to do it anyway. But I don't think you can in XP, I can only get 16 bit and 32 bit. Anyone know of anyway to get XP to display 2 colour? Please tell me I'm right abut this.

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16bit color means the computer can display over 16million different colors.

However, perhaps you (and your dad) do not fully realize what even setting your monitor/computer to monochrome or two colors would look like. Monochrome is what is considered "1bit." You would literally ONLY have 2 colors to use! black and white - There are not even any shades of grey in between.
I have attached an image to show you what your computer would look like in 2 colors (monocrhome). The two colors I chose were "black" and "white" of course.

Originally posted by djwhite My Dad is doing a computer course, and it tells him that it's best to set your monitor to 2 colour to reduce eyestrain. I think thats a load of bull, but he wants to do it anyway. But I don't think you can in XP, I can only get 16 bit and 32 bit. Anyone know of anyway to get XP to display 2 colour? Please tell me I'm right abut this.

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I wanted to address the issue of eyestrain separately.

I'm not sure why the book recommended switching to 2 color to reduce eyestrain. From the previous post I made and the included attachment you can probably tell that the ONLY Microsoft OS capable of displaying 2 colors is DOS! Windows would simply be terrible in 2 colors. I am inclined to suspect, as probably everyone else here, that that book was written a very very long time ago and whatever reason for switching to 2 colors is no longer applicable today (or even if it still is applicable, it's results are worse than the benefits).

As for reducing eyestrain, there are several factors that are involved.

First I'm going to assume you have a CRT monitor and not an LCD or Plasma flat screen. I do not know the full details of how CRT monitors work, so I can't give a very detailed description in that sense. However, I do know that CRT monitors must continual draw and redraw and redraw the screen to keep an image on the screen. Basically the monitor is displaying a bunch of images one after the other many times each second. How fast the monitor does this is called the refresh rate.
The slower the computer monitor draws the images on the screen, the more flicker you will notice on your monitor. The more flicker you have the more eyestrain it causes.
As other people suggested, setting your monitor to the highest refresh rate possible will reduce eyestrain. After about 75hz refresh rate your brain cannot perceive the flicker anymore.

Another factor that causes eyestrain is what Ziptrx mentioned, and that is glare. I've never given much attention to this issue, but Ziptrx's suggestion might help.

Flat panel or LCD monitors do not work in the same manner as CRT monitors. LCD monitors do not have to constantly redraw the picture many times per second. Thus, if you purchase an LCD monitor there is not the issue of flicker and, thus there is less eyestrain.
Also, LCD monitors have less glare. This also will reduce eyestrain.
In addition to all of that, LCD monitors have a sharper picture, which I suspect would be easier on the eyes as well.

want to reduce eye strain?
this is a good excuse, con him into buying an LCD monitor.... they don't make your eyes tired as they don't emit the radiation that make you buggy after staring at it for hours........ beside they use less power too

don't see it, id rather look at 16 million colors (as the eye see naturally) than at two, but if he still has to have it then look, say, on ebay or at an old computer shop, I'm sure and old green or orange monochrome monitor can be had very, very cheap

Thanks guys, I told my dad exactly what you guys have said before i started this thread, and he didn't believe me. After showing him this thread, he decided that I wasn't making it up and he gave up on 2 colour.

And Kevin, I do know how bad monochrome looks, that's why I never used the computers in my old primary school.